The Divine Craftsman's Tool

With Mu Xi's guidance, Xia Yi advanced by leaps and bounds on the path of Forging.

This made Xia Yi understand the importance of having a renowned teacher.

After spending a month with Mu Xi, Xia Yi had also learned that Tang Wulin had been accepted as Mu Chen's disciple.

Although Xia Yi was extremely confident in his own talent, Tang Wulin had already been Mu Chen's disciple for some time.

If he had not saved Mu Xi by chance, Xia Yi might even have had to guard against Mu Chen secretly harming him.

"Can I ask you something?" Xia Yi looked at Mu Xi.

"What is it?" Mu Xi asked curiously.

"Are there any rules for Blacksmiths taking disciples?" Xia Yi asked.

"You want to know how many disciples a blacksmith usually takes, right? I can tell you clearly that high-level blacksmiths generally have many disciples, but only one final disciple." Mu Xi covered her mouth and laughed. As she drove, she deliberately gave Xia Yi a sympathetic look. "And Tang Wulin is indeed my father's final disciple."

Mu Xi had not lied to Xia Yi about this. Once a blacksmith reached the Saint Craftsman level, if possible, everyone wanted to cultivate a Divine Craftsman.

Yet only one Divine Craftsman could exist on Douluo Continent at any given time.

Rather than nurturing several final disciples and having them fight over the position of Divine Craftsman, it was better to devote everything to training one.

That was why high-level Blacksmiths only accepted one final disciple.

Back then, Mu Xi's father, Mu Chen, and her senior uncle, Zhen Hua, had both been disciples of her grandfather.

Later, because Mu Chen married her grandfather's daughter—her mother, Yuan Bao'er—her grandfather formally took Zhen Hua in as his final disciple to compensate him.

Zhen Hua later became a Divine Craftsman, while Mu Chen became a Saint Craftsman.

Although the main reason was still that Mu Chen's Forging talent was inferior to Zhen Hua's, the gap between a final disciple and an ordinary disciple was still extremely obvious.

"What rank is Tang Wulin now?" Xia Yi continued asking.

"A fourth-rank Forging Master." Mu Xi smiled.

Blacksmiths were divided into nine ranks. Ranks one and two were Master Rank, ranks three and four were Grandmaster Rank, ranks five and six were Grand Artisan Rank, ranks seven and eight were Saint Craftsman Rank, and the highest ninth rank was Divine Craftsman Rank.

Xia Yi had not expected Tang Wulin to be so talented. At such a young age, he had already reached the level of a fourth-rank Forging Master.

Take Master Ao Chuang from that day—he was over sixty and only at the fourth rank.

"How about I find somewhere secluded and kill him?" Xia Yi asked in a low voice.

Mu Xi burst out laughing. "Kill him if you want. Of course, you'd better not let my father find out. Dad always says that Forging begins by tempering the heart. If you really did something like that, he would never teach you even the slightest bit of Forging knowledge for the rest of his life."

She knew Xia Yi was joking, so she did not take it seriously. If Xia Yi truly wanted to kill Tang Wulin, he would not have told her.

Mu Xi did not bring Xia Yi to the Blacksmith Association. Instead, she took him directly to her home.

An eight-star Saint Craftsman's villa was truly impressive. Looking through the fence, the buildings inside had been constructed like the White House. Flowers and grass covered the grounds, and there was a swimming pool before the building, forming a rather beautiful scene.

"Miss has returned." As soon as Mu Xi's car entered the courtyard, a maid immediately came over and respectfully attended to her.

"Where are my parents? Their daughter's lifesaver has come, yet they aren't even coming out to welcome him?" Mu Xi complained with a pout as she put the car away in her Storage Soul Tool Ring.

"The Saint Craftsman and Madam are waiting for Miss and this young master in the living room." After glancing at Xia Yi, the maid answered solemnly.

"Forget it, go on with your work. I'll take Xia Yi to see my father." Mu Xi shook her head and led Xia Yi toward the living room.

Very quickly, Xia Yi met Mu Chen, whom he had long wanted to see. He looked dignified and imposing, around forty years old, dressed in fitted gray clothes, with a burly build.

Beside him was Mu Xi's mother, Yuan Bao'er. She appeared to be in her thirties and resembled Mu Xi somewhat, but possessed several more degrees of mature charm. She looked captivating in every way, especially with her proud figure, which the still-young Mu Xi could never compare to.

"Dad, Mom, this is Xia Yi." Mu Xi's face was full of delight. The moment she saw Mu Chen, she ran behind him with a smile and began massaging his shoulders.

"Uncle! Auntie!" Xia Yi had wanted to address Mu Chen as Senior or President, but felt that would be inappropriate. After all, this was Mu Xi's home, not the Blacksmith Association.

"What an outstanding young man." Mu Chen sighed softly, took several notebooks from a Storage Soul Tool, and said, "These are some of my Forging insights from recent years. You saved Xi'er's life, so consider them your reward."

"Thank you, Uncle." Although Xia Yi was somewhat disappointed, he did not refuse. These were the Forging insights of a Saint Craftsman—treasures dreamed of by countless Blacksmiths.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Mu Xi unhappily shook Mu Chen's shoulder. Her red lips pouted slightly, and she was clearly displeased.

She had worked so hard to curry favor with Mu Chen not so that he could fob Xia Yi off with a few lousy notebooks.

"Xi'er, stop fooling around!" Mu Chen glared at Mu Xi, and the slightly stern look in his eyes made her pout even harder.

Yet Mu Chen continued as though he had not seen anything, showing no reaction at all. Mu Xi could only turn her gaze toward Yuan Bao'er. She ran over, hugged Yuan Bao'er's arm, and endlessly acted cute. "Mom, say something to Dad. How can he act like this?"

Yuan Bao'er patted Mu Xi's arm, then looked at Xia Yi and asked, "Where are you from, little brother? What does your family do?"

"This junior comes from Heaven Dou City. I have no parents, and no home." Xia Yi looked somewhat lonely as he spoke. Though it was a lie, there was some genuine emotion in it.

"You..." Mu Xi stared blankly at Xia Yi. After knowing him for so long, she had not realized that he had such a "tragic" background.

She had been born into a perfect family, but she could still imagine how difficult it must have been for Xia Yi to struggle step by step until he reached this point without parents.

"No wonder you have no foundation in Forging at all." A mist appeared in Mu Xi's eyes, and her gaze toward Xia Yi unconsciously softened.

"Since you were in Heaven Dou City, why did you come to a small city like Eastsea City?" Yuan Bao'er seemed affected as well, and her gaze likewise grew gentler.

"The academies in Heaven Dou City all thought my talent was too poor, so I could only come to Eastsea City to study." Xia Yi spoke helplessly.

"Twelve levels of Soul Power." Yuan Bao'er frowned. In a major city like Heaven Dou City, such cultivation really would be difficult to acknowledge.

"You don't need to lose heart. Support Soul Masters inherently cultivate more slowly than other Soul Masters. Besides, even if your cultivation talent is insufficient, your talent in Forging alone is enough to make you famous." Yuan Bao'er comforted him softly.

"Doesn't advancing as a blacksmith also require Soul Power as a foundation?" Xia Yi was somewhat disappointed. He had thought Yuan Bao'er was going to ask Mu Chen to accept him as a disciple, but she showed no intention of doing so.

"Even a low-level blacksmith can ensure a life of wealth and prosperity." Mu Chen revealed a gentle smile.

"That's true!" Xia Yi laughed heartily and said to Mu Chen, "If you have nothing else, Senior, I'll take my leave first."

Since Mu Chen had no intention whatsoever of taking him in, there was no need for Xia Yi to waste time here.

"Wait, there is one more thing I would like to ask of you, little friend." Seeing that Xia Yi was about to leave, Yuan Bao'er hurriedly stopped him.

"What is it?" Xia Yi asked curiously.

Yuan Bao'er smiled slightly. "It's like this. Xi'er's senior uncle has recently been calling through the Soul Guidance Communicator, saying that he misses Xi'er. But during this period, Xi'er's father and I have both been busy with matters concerning the Heaven Sea Alliance Grand Competition, so we truly have no time to take Xi'er to see her senior uncle. Since you are from Heaven Dou City, I would like to ask you to accompany Xi'er there to see him. Oh, I forgot to tell you—Xi'er's senior uncle is the Divine Craftsman, Zhen Hua."

Mu Chen's mouth twitched slightly. He finally understood why Yuan Bao'er had not tried to persuade him.

So she was planning to introduce Xia Yi to Zhen Hua.

"Right, how didn't I think of that?" Mu Xi's eyes lit up as well. Mu Chen already had Tang Wulin as his final disciple.

But Zhen Hua did not have one yet.

With Xia Yi's talent in Forging, along with Mu Xi's connection to him, Zhen Hua might truly accept Xia Yi.

"Then I will respectfully accept." Xia Yi nodded. He had genuinely not expected Mu Xi to have a connection to Zhen Hua.

"Come on, let's go find Senior Uncle right now." Mu Xi happily grabbed Xia Yi and pulled him outside. Zhen Hua had no children and had always spoiled her as though she were his daughter. She believed that as long as she asked, Zhen Hua would definitely agree.

Watching Xia Yi and Mu Xi's retreating figures, Mu Chen glanced at Yuan Bao'er and said in a low voice, "I asked Senior Brother to investigate. Xia Yi has a Federation registration in Heaven Dou City, but he suddenly appeared a month ago, and he had never shown up in Heaven Dou City before that. I'm worried he might harm Xi'er."

"Why worry about so much? Once you send him to Senior Brother, Senior Brother will naturally consider those matters himself." Yuan Bao'er smiled faintly.

Zhen Hua adored Mu Xi so much that if Xia Yi truly had ulterior motives toward her, Zhen Hua would naturally stop him.

Mu Chen shook his head helplessly. Although Yuan Bao'er was his wife, he still felt sorry for Zhen Hua.

A dignified Divine Craftsman had been turned into a tool by Yuan Bao'er just like that.

And even if Zhen Hua knew what Yuan Bao'er was thinking, there was nothing he could do about it.

He had been completely wrapped around her finger.